RESEARCH
Lobster Biology Lobster Fishery Ecology
Throughout my research I focus on a large range of topics in all life stages of American lobster, from settlement to adulthood. My research combines field and lab work, along with computer modelling to better understand lobster biology and how our findings can be applied to the fishery.
Current Research
After a larval lobster settles to the bottom, it is estimated that it will take 5-10 years until they are large enough to be caught in the fishery.
Predicting future lobster fishery recruitment
My MSc research aims to create a tool that can be used to forecast recruitment of American lobsters to local fisheries in Atlantic Canada by understanding the relationship between benthic recruitment and fishery recruitment. Having a prediction of these trends will enable managers and fishermen to adjust investments.
​
Along with the practical use, this research will promote the conservation of the species by emphasizing the importance of monitoring the early life stages of American lobster, as it may be crucial for the future sustainability of the lobster fishery in Atlantic Canada.​
Check out this video for an overview of the project!
Rinsing the tow net and sieving our samples on the pursuit of American lobster larvae!
Right: What we're looking for, a stage IV lobster larvae!
Left: Not what we're looking for, our net found a massive salp bloom. Come to find out that they are not typically found this far in shore... but we found them!
Quantifying lobster larval densities
Currently there is limited information regarding when larval lobsters begin to enter the water column in the Bay of Fundy. It is hypothesized that with warming waters hatch time will shift, along with presence of larvae. By quantifying the Stages we hope to determine whether there is a shift in timing, as well as quantify mortality between stages and see if there's a link between larval and settlement densities!
Pleopod preservation and staging
Pleopod staging is a common method used in the fishery to determine where in the molt cycle a lobster is; this is used to distinguish the "quality" of the lobster when promoting local lobster to markets.
​
Some concern has come that time of molt is shifting. This project aimed to look at multiple techniques for preserving pleopod clippings to allow fishers to collect their own samples to send to scientists to have staged. This would allow us to create a time series of pleopods across the fishing season and multiple locations in Atlantic Canada.
​
​
Pleopod clipping from a lobster getting close to molt. The new pleopod is evident inside the old pleopod, along with the setae!
Past Research
American lobster embryo. The yellow outlines the area of the eye which is used as an index for embryo development.
Quantifying the variability in lobster hatch
Female American lobsters typically hatch their embryos over protracted hatch periods of 15-32 days. For my honours research I investigated the mechanisms underlying this intra-brood variation in hatch time, I reared individual embryos from June to September 2017 at a constant temperature and took photos of them at the beginning of the study and prior to hatch, and measured their eye size as a proxy of their development status. My results indicated that embryos that hatched earlier in the summer are (i) more developed come spring, (ii) less advanced in development, and (iii) develop at a faster rate. My study suggests that the process of hatching is not strictly associated with a particular role of the female, but rather is perhaps mostly a function of processes or attributes of individual embryos. ​
Paper in prep.